The Arizona sentinel., 1887-11-26

mind of Peter the Great, and it was carried into execution by Bchring. whose name has since been connected with the sea and the strait which lie between the continents.
 Vitus Behring Bering) was Dane. He was born at the village of Horsen, Jutland, in 16S0 As a young man. he sailed in Danish vessels to the East and West Indies. In 1706 he entered the service of Peter the Great, and was assigned to the navy which had just been built at Cronstadt The appoint ment of Bebring to the command of a scientific expedition in the Sea of Kamschatka was made January 29, 1725. On the 9th of February Behring started from St. Petersburg, and three days later his imperial master died. So difficult was the journey overland that it was not until the summer of the following year that Behring. with the advance detachment reached the Sea of Ochotsk. Behring then built a boat to carry the party over the sea. He had brought men from Russia for this purpose. The craft was christened the Fortune. The last of June, 1727. it carried over to Kamchatka the ship builders who were to build the vessel intended for the great voyage.
 Their ship-yard was established at the mouth of the Kamschatka river. The next winter was spent in preparing timbers for the vessel, and OF the 20th f July, 172S, it was ready fer the voyage. Three years and half had gone by since Behring and his party had set out from St. Petersburg. Tho Gabriel-for that was the name of the ship-sailed northeast along the coast of Asia. On the 10th of August the Island of St Lawrence was discov- cred. Five days later they rounded cape in latitude 67 deg. IS min. north. Here the coast line turned suddenly to the west. Behring had proved that the continents were sepa- rate. The party returned to the ship yard and wintered there. On the 9th of June, 1729. they left again on a voyage of exploration, but were un- successful, and Behring returned Over- land to St. Petersburg.
 | It was not until 1732 that proposals were made for another expedition. Anna was now Empress, and she was ambitious to extend the boundaries of Russia. She directed that special at tention be given to the possibilities of a northeast passage along the Amer ican coast. Behring's plan was to push across to the coast of America, and trace it northward to the strait he had discovered. The plan gave Behring her possessions in America. The party left Si. Petersburg early in 1733. They built two vessels on the Sea of Ochotsk. Seven years had been spent when, in | the St Peter and the St. Paul. they sail, d over to Kamschatka and win tered there. On the 45h of June, 1741, Behring started on his last voyage. He was in command of the St. Peter July | IS the American coast was sighted in latitude 5S deg, 2S min. north. They followed inc dangerous coast to the west, meeting head-winds all the time. Scurvy broke out, and B.hring was confined to his cabin. A council was held, and it was resolved 10 return to Kamschatka, The St. Paul was lost. On the 4th'of November an island was sighted-the last discovery Behring was to make. It was named for him. Here they landed for winter quarters. The commander was carried on shore November g. and he died December 19. The survivors of that winter built a boat from the wreck of the St. Peter, and they reached Kamschatka on the 27lh of August 1742, - Touth's COnr- pGnion.